Brassiere



July 4, 1950 H. J. DUBNER 2,513,406

BRASSIERE Filed Dec. 26, 1946 ATTORN EY Patented July 4, 1950 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to garments such foundation garments or brassires having bust pockets.

One object of the invention is to provide a garment of the nature set forth having improved means particularly adapted to fit, support and cause substantial separation of the bust, with especial reference to a relatively large bust.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a garment of the type mentioned having. improved means which is self-adjusting to the bust in producing separation thereof.

Another object of the invention is to furnish a garment of the character described having improved means within the pockets thereof for urging the breasts apart from each other, and with the garment so constructed that the pockets are adapted to yield to accommodate the: bust as separated or shifted therein.

More specifically it is an object of the invention to provide a brassire or the like having elements within the pockets thereof anchored so as to cause separation of the bust and so arranged in a floating manner as to be self-accom- .structions. .i'ore, is submitted merely as showing a preferred exemplification of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in rear elevation of the garment, but showing the same expanded.

The advantages of the invention as here outlined are best realized when all of its features and instrumentalities are combined, but useful embodiments may be produced involving less than the whole.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention app'ertains, that the same may be incorporated in several different con- The accompanying drawing, there- Referring in detail to the drawing, lzl denotes a garment such as a foundation garment, and more particularly a brassiere embodying the invention. The same includes a body-embracing or bandlike member ll having the bust pocket sections H2 and end sections it, the latter adapted to eater-1d around the sides and back of the wearer to be fastened together in any well-known detachable manner which is not shown. Shoulder straps it may be provided to function in the conventional way. The sections l2 are provided modating to the shape of the bust, to thereby with bust pockets ltl which. mayhave one or more produce maximum separation, with the brassiere cutouts as indicated at the seam it for probeing adapted to yield intermediate of the du'cing the required cuplike form. lhese secpockets in such a manner that the pockets will tions' are seamed at ll to the end portions 13-. accommodate the separated bust according to For a bust of substantial size, the pockets may its particular size and shape. provide concavities of the required diameter and Another object of the invention is the prodepth, which may be substantially greater than vision of a device of the class alluded to having those herein shown. As thus far described, the few and simple parts, and being inexpensive to garment may be conventional. manufacture, neat in appearance and durable in At the central, normal, relatively flat region construction and adapted to embrace the body fit of the garment, the same is longitudinally of the wearer with the desired degree of tension. yieldable in a relatively restricted manner, such Other objects and advantages of the invention yield being principally intermediate of the top will become apparent as the specification pro line or point 2i the bottom edge of the ceeds. brass-iere, and it is preferred that some yield With the aforesaid objects in view, the inshall also occur at the bottom edg lllustravention comprises the novel features, combinatively, this central region All is formed with a tions and arrangements of parts hereinafter devertical, slot-lilre opening 23 between the bust scribed in their preferred embodiments, pointed pockets, this slot being closed at its upper end 24 out in the subjoined claims, and illustrated in and being desirably open at the bottom edge 22. the annexed drawing, wherein like parts are des- Spanning this opening is a longitudinal piece of ignated by the same reference characters fabric. 25 preferably disposed at the rear face of throughout the several views. the garment and soy connected thereto as to In the drawing: permit relatively free and unrestricted expansion Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a garat a central point between the top and bottom ment embodying the invention as laid out in reiaedges 2! and 22. This member ls stitched or tively flat position and with portions of the tacked as at 25 to the upper non-eapansible por shoulder straps removed and with the end fastention of the garment, and is stitched or tacked as mg means omitted. at 21 to the lower part of the garment near the Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken approximately bottom edge 22 and at opposite sides of the open on the line 22 of Fig. 1. ing 2.3. The member 25 may be otherwise free for unrestricted expansion of the garment intermediate of the stitching 26 and 27. With certain large busts it is desirable to permit some limited degree of expansibility along the bottom edge 22 for more effective accommodation of the bust in the pockets l5, and accordingly the member 25 may consist of material which is elastic lengthwise of the brassire. of the member 25 near the bottom edge 22 is thus elastically effective, but for simplicity in manufacture, the entire member 25 may consist of a single piece of material having this characteristic.

Only that portion Anchored at a point intermediate of the up per and lower stitching and 27, and desirably rather centrally therebetween is a retaining element for a purpose presently described. This element may consist of a strip of pliant material extending horizontally and being fixedly mounted for example on the member 25. It is preferred that this element 30 shall consist of jacent to the central region of the brassiere or with respect to the apices of the pockets as approximate centers. Each of these members is mounted at its ends on the bust pockets, for example by stitching or tacking thereto at at the top of the pocket, and at 31 adjacent to the bottom of the pocket. The curve of each of these strip members 35 may be generally described as being such as to effectively engage the breasts for the best possible separation thereof. The strip members 38 may be arranged at opposite regions of the pockets being tacked at 39 and extending laterally and upwardly to be tacked at 4!; to the pockets at points approximately at the elevation of the apices of the pockets. If desired, the strip members 35 and 38 may consist of continuous ribbons or bands, with those shown at 38 also serving as a support for the bust and to partially oppose the lateral urging of the breasts by the members 35. Except as herein described, the members 35 and 38 are free of the bust pockets so as to be selfforming to the size and shape of the bust. However, the strip members 35 are connected to the retaining element 30 in suitable manner. Such connection is best accomplished by forming the member 30 as a loop as shown, the members 35 freely passing through the end portions 4! of the loop member 30. Thus it is possible for the fullness of the member 35 to be adjusted by relative sliding movement thereof in the loop. Furthermore, the loop permits the adjacent portion of the member 35 to assume a twist or angular relation as indicated at 42 for an increased degree of lateral contact with the breast, the shape of the loop portions 4! changing to accommodate the position of the strip member 35. If desired,

the strip members 35 and 38 may consist of longitudinally elastic material.

In use, the brassire affords particularly satisfactory fitting, support, and especially separation of relatively large busts, and in this regard I it possesses a degree of self-adjustment which has not to my knowledge been realized heretofore. While the practice is to make bust cups in certain sizes, it is not possible to manufacture on a quantity production basis too many sizes of bust cups, and accordingly adjustability becomes essential, especially for the relatively large bust.

When the instant garment is applied to the wearer, the breasts are received into the bust pockets I 5 with the curved bands 35 assuming at least in part an angular position for more effective lateral engagement with the breasts than may be accomplished by the pockets themselves. Thus a substantial separation of the breasts is obtained. This angularity is possible by reason of the lost motion" connection of the members 35 in the loops 4|, and further the fulness or distribution of the members 35 may vary up and down to fit the configuration of the breasts. The action just described is also facilitated by the stretchability of the element 39. The members 35 may alter more or less the relation of the breasts to the pockets [5, depending upon the size and shape of the breasts. To allow for this, the garment is expansible at the central region intermediate of the pockets; thus the opening 23 ShOWn in normal position in Figure 1 may assume the configuration shown in Fig. 3. This longitudinal expansion of the garment results in a substantially increased fulness in the pockets at the inner region thereof indicated at 45, whereby in turn the members 35 may more effectively do their work. In the case of certain busts, it is also of advantage that some expansion, although in lesser degree shall occur adjacent to the lower edge 22, and this is permitted by the elasticity of the member 25, with the opening 23 extending to the bottom edge. Such elasticity must be rather limited in order that the bust pockets shall adequately support the breasts with a proper degree of tension of the brassire around the body of the wearer. The support of the breasts is of coursegreatly facilitated by the members 35 and 38 whereby the expansibility along the bottom edge 22 of the brassiere becomes feasible. The members 38 may also assume an angularity for effective contact with the bottom region of the bust, but such angularity is much less than that of the members '35 at the element 30. Except as otherwise described, the garment ma be made of any suitable materials well known in the art. t The brassiere II] will also function in a reversed manner, in other-words, in the inside I out position. In fact, the operation of the members 35 and 38 will be even more effective for their intended purposes if they are located on the external side of the brassire. This can be realized by the identical construction shown, for which purlpose Fig. 3'may also be regarded as an outside View of the brassiere, and the only change in arrangement would be that the'twist in the members 35 and 38 would be reversed to follow the convex contour of the bust pockets in a natural manner, this change in twist being inherent in the construction shown by reason of the freedom which each of these members possesses intermediate of the points of securement at 33, 37, 39, and 43. The advantages referred to reside in the fact that these members 35 and 38 will act upon the breasts through the pocket walls, the latter serving to more uniformly distribute the tension imparted by the members 35 and 33 in separating and supporting the bust. The smooth texture of the pocket walls'will permit these members 35 and 33 to automatically slide therealong to assume their most desirable positions. Such automatic adjustment in the exterior position of the members is feasible in the case of member 35 if the latter is suitably anchored or restrained at points in relative proximity to each other as at 35, M, and 31, these points being spaced apart according to an acute angle whose center is at the apex of the bust pocket. From the standpoint of appearance however, it is more desirable that the members referred to shall be concealed within the bust pockets. The term within the pockets and similar expressions in the appended claims are to be interpreted as meaning within the area defined or subtended by the bust pockets, so as to include an external as well as an internal location of any or all of the members such as 35, 38, 25 and 3D.

I claim:

1. A brassiere comprising a body encircling band having an expandable central region and top and bottom edge borders, conical breast pockets spaced apart by said central region between said edge borders, said breast pockets each having an upper and lower region, a flexible strip element formed with an arcuate portion extending along the periphery of each pocket from said upper pocket region around towards said central region to said lower pocket region adjacent the bottom edge border for positioning breasts of the wearer each within a pocket, opposite ends of said strip element being secured to the respective pocket at each of said upper and lower pocket regions, said conical pockets having apices with said strip element arcuate portion curved to approximately correspond to arcs with said apices as centers, said expandable central region being formed with a slot-like opening between said top and bottom edge borders for varying the effective size of the rpockets to accommodate spacing the breasts as positioned by said strip elements, a transverse member fioate ingly mounted in said expandable central region underlying and bridging said slot-like opening anchored at one end thereof to said top edge border and at the other end to each of the pockets adjacent said bottom edge border, and a pair of loop members carried by said transverse member at a midportion thereof, said loop members extending in opposite directions each toward a pocket and engaging said strip elements to permit movement of the latter in conforming to convex surfaces of said breasts for self-adjustment as required by fullness and spacing thereof.

2. A brassiere comprising a body encircling band having an expandable central region and top and bottom edge borders, conical breast pockets spaced apart by said central region between said edge borders, an arc-shaped flexible strip element positioned along an inner side of each of the pockets about the periphery thereof, said strip being connected to each of the pockets at the top, bottom and periphery remote from said central region, said strip elements being otherwise free from the pockets to position the breasts within said pockets, said expandable central region having a slot-like opening extending between said top and bottom edge borders for varying the effective size of the pockets to accommodate spacing the breasts positioned by said strip elements, a transverse member floatingly mounted in said expandable central region underlying and bridging said slot-like opening anchored at one end thereof to said top edge border and at the other end to each of the pockets'adjacent said bottom edge border, and oppositely positioned loop members carried by said transverse member at a midportion thereof through slip engagement with said strip elements to permit movement of the latter to conform to convex surfaces of the breasts for self-adjustment to requirements of fullness and spacing thereof.

3. The brassire as defined in claim 1 in which said strip elements are made elastic for longitudinal expansion.

4. The brassire as defined in claim 1 in which said transverse member is elastic across the width thereof to permit expansion of the brassiere band at the bottom edge border and separation of the spacing of said pockets thereat.

5. The brassire as defined in claim 2 in which said strip elements are made longitudinally elastic, and said transverse member is elastic across the width thereof to permit expansion of the brassiere band at the bottom edge border and separation of the spacing of said pockets thereat.

HARRY J'AY DUBNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,802,464 Frieland Apr. 28, 1931 2,015,151 Moity Sept. 24, 1935 2,100,890 Witkower Nov. 30, 1937 2,248,300 Hay July 8, 1941 2,327,488 Becker et a1 Aug. 24, 1943 2,420,593 Gluckin May 13, 1947 2,421,448 Witkower June 3, 1947 2,437,541 Koret Mar. 9, 1948 

